"Hunt for stages" - Despite Tour de Suisse podium, Oscar Onley maintains Tour de France plans intact

Oscar Onley has been having a formidable 2025 season, highlighted now by his podium at the Tour de Suisse. After the final mountain time-trial, the Briton has talked about his effort and his thoughts ahead of the Tour de France where he confirms that he will be going to be chasing stage wins.

“I think I did quite big numbers so I’ve got to be happy. I tried to split it into two parts. The first was to where the intermediate was, and it was really about trying to hold back in that first part," Onley said in words to CyclingPro.net following his effort. "Then the second part would suit me quite well normally with the steep sections so I just tried to do what I could".

Onley was fourth at the Tour Down Under earlier this year, 5th at the UAE Tour and 9th at Itzulia Basque Country. This June, he took a step up with his first stage win of the year, putting in a brilliant performance to match and then outsprint João Almeida in the steep finish to Santa Maria in Calanca. The 22-year old finished the final effort against the clock in third place and finished in the same position, overtaking Julian Alaphilippe in the overall classification.

“It’s been a really good week for me, a step up compared to my results in the past and also my own performances. I stepped up physically and I’m happy with it," he assures. The team will be depending on him as the main card to chase a victory at the Tour de France now, where he - despite his obvious abilities - will not be trying to go for the overall classification.

“The plan should still be to try to hunt for stages. I think that’s a good first step to learning the Tour, and I’ve still got plenty of time to try for GC in the future. Probably, I’ll start trying GC in the other Grand Tours first, because the Tour is another level up.”